Propellent charge holder



c. G. STORM Re. 21,722 PROPELLENT CHARGE HOLDER Original Filed Oct. 24, 1938 Feb. 18, 1941.

Fig-1- Inventor Eh1-15t1an [3. Storm E127 Attmvne 5 Reissue cl Feb. 18,- 1941 21.222 rnorELu-m'r cannon nomna Christian G. storm, Arlington, Va.

Original No.

2,210,959, dated August 12, 1940, Se-

rial No; 236,714, October 24, 1938. Application for reissue September 4, 1940, Serial No.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, i928: 370 0. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government {or governmental purposes, without the payment to 'me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates in general to a projectile which is chiefly adapted for use with muzzleloading ordnance and more particularly it has reference to a holder for increment propellent charges. In the mortar projectile disclosed in U. S. Patents 1,628,527; 1,833,758 and 2,070,946, it is proposed to provide a plurality of spaced, radial, stabilizing fins on the tail and to utilize the fins to carry propellent charges in capsule form, the capsule not contributing tothepropelling force.- The capsules are composed of amore or less inflexible and combustible material different from the propellent charge and in order .to insure their retention between the fins they must be accurately dimensioned and the fins must be exactly spaced. Even when these requirements are met failure frequently occurs due to uncontrolled shrinkage of the material of the capsule. In additionit is extremely diflicult to obtain a secure joint between the cover and the body of the capsule and the jointis readily broken when it becomes necessary to force or snap the capsule into position between the fins with the result that moisture may enter the capsule "and the enclosed loose powder may escape.

It is customary to issue'a round of mortar ammunition with a maximum propellent charge and then, at the time of loading, to remove a portion i the charge as occasion requires. In view of this practice, it is desirable that the separate charges be'so arranged that they may be removed by an operator wearing gloves and under conditions of darkness.

tainer of non-explosive material and the storage and assembly disadvantages of the capsule charge while meeting requirements of production and service it isproposed in this invention to employ a With a view to eliminating the use of a conflexible sheet propellent which may be i-nexpenprojectile carrying propellent charges in the manner proposed by this invention;

Fig. 21s a view in and elevation; I

Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views of the charges;

Fig.5 is an end view showing a modified ar- 5 rangement of holding a charge.

Referring to the drawing by character of reference there is shown the tail of a mortar projectile comprising a-central tube 5 having a threaded stem 6 for attachment to the body of the projectile (not shown) and having vents in its walls for conducting the flame from a cartridge 8 to ignite the propellent charges 99 on the out side of the tube..

A plurality of longitudinal fins ill-l0, circum ferentially spaced and radially arranged, are formed on or secured to the outside of the tube 5. The fins which serve in a well known manner to stabilize the projectile in flight, are preferably formed at their outer edges with flanges II to increase rigidity and they also include apertures l2 to permit equalization of gas pressures on opposite faces of the fins and thereby avoid deformation of the fins.

The propellent charge 9 consists of a plurality of flexible sheets of a propellent powder, the sheets being square, round or of any other shape adapted to cooperate with the vents Ito provide ignition of the edges of theindividual sheets of the charge and may be perforated for a similar purpose asshown in Figs. 1 and 3. The sheets are readily'assembled to constitute a charge of any desired thickness and may be bound together in any convenient manner by clips I3 or cord l4 whereby the charge retains flexibility. The size of the sheets should be so determined that, when grouped into a charge, the charge canonly be placed between the fins or made to engage behind the flange II or in. the apertures I2 by flexing it. Considerable tolerance is thereby per- 40' mitted in the size of the'charge and in the spacing of the fins.

In orderto additionally insure the retention of the charge it is preferably of a size exceeding the distance between the engaged portions of the fins so that, when in place betweenfins, it will remain flexed whereby advantage is taken of its inherent resiliency to exert pressure and maintain it in engagement with the fins, but it will be understood that, the invention is not to be construed as limited to charges which are flexed when in position since charges which require flex ing to be put in position but are loosely held when in position constitute operable forms of the invention within the 'scopeof the novel combination .55

hereinafter claimed. As illustrated in the drawing the charge will preferably be bent away from the tube to facilitate overlapping of adjacent charges in one aperture l2 and also to enable an operator to easily place a finger between the charge and the tube to effect removal of the charge. The charge may be readily inserted and as readily removed, even under adverse conditions. Charges that have been removed are not damaged and may be reinserted in other rounds when desired.

I claim:

1. A tail assembly for use with a projectile comprising in combination, a tail member having spaced elements, a resilient sheet propellent charge positioned between said elements in interengaging relation therewith and having its dimensions between said spaced element-engaging portions thereof greater than the distance between charge engaged portions of the elements thereby requiring deformation of the propellent charge in said. position, and means for retaining the propellent charge in said deformed position. M

2. A tail assembly for use with a projectile comprising in combination, a central tail member, a plurality'of circumferentially spaced radially disposed fins secured to said central tail member, a resilient sheet propellent charge positioned between a pair of adjacent fins in interengaging relation. therewith and having its dimensions between fin-engaging portions thereof greater than the distance between charge engaged portions of the fins thereby requiring deformation of the propellent charge in said position, and means forming. a normal part of said finsfor retaining the propellent charge in said deformed position whereby the use of auxiliary securing means for the propellent charge is eliminated through use of its inherent resiliency as a securing agent.

3. A tail assemblyfor use with a projectile comprising in combination, a central tail mem-, ber, a plurality of circumferentially substantially equally spaced radially disposed fins secured to said central tail member, a resilient-sheet propellent charge positioned between each pair of adjacent fins in interengaging relation therewith and each charge having its dimension between fin-engaging portions thereof greater than the distance between charge engaged portions of the fins thereby requiring deformation thereof in said position, and means for retaining the propellent charges between the fins lnsaid deformed positions. 7

4. A tail assembly for use with a projectile comprising in combination, a plurality of radially disposed circumferentially spaced stabilizing fins, a resilient sheet propellent charge comprised of a plurality of bound flexible sheets positioned between a pair of adjacent fins in interengaging relation therewith and having its dimension between fin-engaging portions thereof greater than the distance between charge en- "gaged portions of the fins thereby requiring deformation of the propellent charge in said position and means, releasably retaining the propellent charge between the pair of adjacent fins in said deformed position.

5. A tall assembly for use witha projectile comprising in. combinatiOn a central tail member, a plurality of circumferentially spaced ra-' dially disposed perforatedfins secured to said central tail member, and a resilient sheet propellent charge disposed between a pair of adl jacent fins in interengaging relation therewith, said propellent charge having opposed portions on a line of its greatest dimension protruding through the perforations of the adjacent fins and having its dimensions between the fin-engaging portions thereof greater than the distance between charge engaged portions of the fins whereby the propellent charge will be deformed and stressed in said position thereby being retained in said position by the inherent resiliency of the charge.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein a resilient propellent charge of the character recited is dis posed between each pair of adjacent fins with alternate charges outermost and adjacent charges overlapping iniengaging relation.

'7. The structure of claim 5 wherein said propellent charge is" comprised of a plurality of bound sheets forming a substantially rectangular charge and a diagonal of said charge is disposed to conform with said line of mension. I

8. A tall assembly for use with a projectile comprising in combination, a central tail member, a plurality of circumferentially spaced radially disposed fins secured to the central tail member, said fins each being provided'with opposed fianges adjacent their outer edges, and a resilient sheet propellent charge having opposed portions disposed in. engaging relation with a pair of adjacent fins inwardly of the pair of adjacent'fianges thereon in abutting'relation therea with and having its dimension between said opposed engaging portions "thereof sufficiently greater than the distance between charge engaged portions of the fins to deform the propellent chargein said position.

9. A tall assembly for use with a projectile comprising in combination, a central tail member, a plurality of circumferentially spaced radially disposed fins secured to the central tail member, said fins each being provided with opposed flanges adjacent their outer edges and with perforations inwardly extending .from the flanges, and a resilient sheet propellent charge disposed between a pair of adjacent fins in interengaging relation therewith, said propellent charge having opposed portions on a line of its greatest dimension protruding through said perforations of the adjacent fins and abutting the flanges of said pair of fins, said resilient propellent charge having its dimensions between the greatest di portions thereof engaging the fins greater than adjacent fins, said'charge being so shaped and a so dimensioned as to be pcsitionable in said interengaging relation only charge.

12. In a projectile with tail fins having apertures therein, a flexible propellent charge protruding through theapertures in the fins and caged thereby, said charge being so shaped and by flexing of the so dimensioned as to be positionable in said 1 caged relation and removable therefrom only by flexing of the charge.

held caged within said perforations and is removable only by flexing 0! said charge.-

15. In a projectile having tail fins with perforations therein, a naked, flexible sheet propellentcharge of circular shape having extremities of a diameter thereof protruding through perforations of adjacent fins, respectively whereby said charge is held caged within said perforations and is removable only by flexing of said charge.

CHRISTIAN G. STORM. 

